# Do you take one box or two boxes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2026, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360 "2026-03-11T05:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/41 "2026-03-11T15:32:18Z")
Why wouldn’t I just take the opaque box? Isn’t that an easy $1m? Why would ANYone take both of them? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/42 "2026-03-11T15:33:55Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Why would ANYone take both of them? Because once you enter the room, the boxes are fixed and your mindset previously doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/43 "2026-03-11T15:36:11Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Because once you enter the room, the boxes are fixed and your mindset previously doesn’t matter Unless you believe that you are uniquely special and unpredictable and capable of actions unconnected to your prior state, your mindset _does_ matter. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/44 "2026-03-11T15:54:21Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > This assumes that the computer is always right, which is how I read the problem. That is, whatever you chose is what the computer will have predicted you to have chosen. Doesn’t that assumption come with the assumption that I cannot choose anything other than what has been predicted? Is there anything more complex here than the statement “in a world where it is possible for a computer to know what you will do before you do it, you will in fact do what that computer predicts?” ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/45 "2026-03-11T15:55:02Z")
I’ve now watched the Veritasium video and it underscored my status as a one boxer. It also revealed some things about me that I had not previously realized: My gut feeling is that free will is an illusion. This part blew me away: “If you don’t believe that free will exists, you still have to behave as if it does.” ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/46 "2026-03-11T16:28:28Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Doesn’t that assumption come with the assumption that I cannot choose anything other than what has been predicted? Right. I haven’t watched the video, but @Thumper668 seems to confirm my hunch that this is really a stalking horse for an “Is there free will?” debate. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/47 "2026-03-11T16:39:23Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > I think people are focusing too much on the computer. People presented with such a manipulative dilemma are prone to try to “flip the table”, and either break the rules or destroy the one responsible. Thus such things as a common solution to the infamous “trolley problem” being “kill the guy who set up the trolley problem”. The computer in the scenario is the “enemy”, or at least the proxy for one and so people are inclined to find some way to defeat or harm it. People in such “game theory” dilemmas have been shown to often pick sub-optimal options knowingly out of sheer spite. It’s likely an instinct, since being spiteful like that reduces the likelihood of people actually trying such manipulative tactics. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/48 "2026-03-11T16:44:36Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@Al128](#): > > > > What is if you walk into the room and unplug the supercomputer? > > How many boxes do you take afterwards? Take the supercomputer. One that complex is probably worth a lot more than a million dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/49 "2026-03-11T16:48:12Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > seems to confirm my hunch that this is really a stalking horse for an “Is there free will?” debate. Partly, but not entirely. It’s a paradox, so there is no “right” answer. But how you answer offers insight into how you think. What I think is very interesting is how most people are so confident in their solution that the other side is seen as irrational. From the start I could see logical arguments for both answers. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/50 "2026-03-11T16:49:31Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Take the supercomputer. One that complex is probably worth a lot more than a million dollars. Have you tried to lift a supercomputer? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/51 "2026-03-11T16:49:43Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > People in such “game theory” dilemmas have been shown to often pick sub-optimal options knowingly out of sheer spite. It’s likely an instinct, since being spiteful like that reduces the likelihood of people actually trying such manipulative tactics. Yes, but if there are no other players we have to make the computer into the opponent. Game theory doesn’t really apply here. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/52 "2026-03-11T16:50:31Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Have you tried to lift a supercomputer? 🙂 Nobody said I couldn’t bring a forklift. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/53 "2026-03-11T17:00:48Z")
By 1980s standards your phone _is_ a supercomputer. And very easy to lift. And easy to drop too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/54 "2026-03-11T17:21:50Z")
That would have been pretty useful in the 1980s; why didn’t we think of that? The rooms full of cabinets full of processor modules have their own intimidation factor, however. [![](https://www.tamikothiel.com/cm/CM2_Pan_1024w.gif) ](https://www.tamikothiel.com/cm/CM2_Pan_1024w.gif) Pick a box, now!! ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/55 "2026-03-11T17:34:17Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Doesn’t that assumption come with the assumption that I cannot choose anything other than what has been predicted? > > Is there anything more complex here than the statement “in a world where it is possible for a computer to know what you will do before you do it, you will in fact do what that computer predicts?” I think you’ve nailed it. It’s not nearly as interesting of a hypothetical as [the computer] thinks it is ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/56 "2026-03-11T17:51:35Z")
Unless the computer really has supernatural powers or time travel ability or something like that, it made its move based on analysis of your previous history, not on what you do today. That history is done, you can’t change it. Deciding to take one box today is not going to affect what the computer did yesterday. (If you knew this game was going to occur, maybe you could change the computer’s move by having made different life choices over the past 30 years, but that is not an option.) ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/57 "2026-03-11T17:54:23Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > How can my choice, after having entered the room, affect what already is in the second box at that point? [![](https://i.imgflip.com/amd6zz.jpg) ](https://i.imgflip.com/amd6zz.jpg) If you choose two boxes, you are Bart. You always were Bart and you always will be Bart. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/58 "2026-03-11T18:01:35Z")
Wait, why am I walking into a room and stealing a box? > [@Eonwe](#): > > I think I must be missing something. > > My options are to leave the room with either: > > - One box, containing $1000 > - One box, containing either $0 or $1,000,000 > - Both boxes > > … and there are no additional consequences for any option? > > Why would you not take both? > > It seems like there’s a fallacy in the belief that by being a person who only takes one box today it will have had an impact on what the computer predicted yesterday. But anyway, empty boxes are useful. If I’m taking stuff, I might as well take both. Are you saying I know in advance that I will be walking into this room and offered a box? I think there are a whole lot of unstated assumptions in this question. I think I need to know the rest of them to answer this. Because the real answer, in real life, is that I don’t take boxes of cash that are lying around, I assume they belong to someone else. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > By 1980s standards your phone _is_ a supercomputer. And very easy to lift. And easy to drop too. 😉 Yup. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/59 "2026-03-11T18:47:17Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Pick a box, now!! A European or an African?? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360/60 "2026-03-11T19:27:11Z")
I’m going to pick a number between 1 and 10, then I’m going to multiply it by 5, divide by 2, add 27, multiply by 3 then take the square root. If the 3rd digit of the answer is odd, I take 1 box (the opaque one) if the 3rd digit is even, I take both boxes. My number is 4 Hold on… the answer is 10.5345438, third digit is odd (5) so I’m taking just the one box. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-take-one-box-or-two-boxes/1028360.md?page=4)